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Joshua Baer, a leader in the tech space, died Tuesday night in a private plane crash in Laredo.<\/p>\n
Austin American-Statesman file photo<\/p>\n
When people think of the Austin tech boom, Joshua\u00a0Baer comes to mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Baer, 50, was a giant in the Austin tech scene best known for founding Capital Factory, one of the city\u2019s most notable and successful venture capital firms, in 2009. He died Tuesday in a small-plane crash in Laredo<\/a>.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n “Nobody has built a company in the last 20 years without crossing paths with Joshua\u00a0Baer,” Austin Tech Council CEO Thom Singer said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Baer created Capital Factory on his mission to “help people quit their jobs.” Both accelerator and later-stage investment firm, Capital Factory shaped the Austin startup ecosystem and got several major companies off the ground.<\/p>\n The firm has been the most active early-stage investor in Texas since 2010, according to\u00a0Pitchbook data<\/a>. It has helped fund companies like Firefly Aerospace<\/a>, Intuitive Machines, Aalo Atomics<\/a>, Colossal Biosciences and Creative 3D Technologies<\/a>. It helped companies like defense tech firm Saronic Technologies<\/a> and Neuralink competitor Paradromics<\/a> launch.<\/p>\n It was among the first\u00a0investors in humanoid robotics maker Apptronik,<\/a>\u00a0one\u00a0of its most successful ventures.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Apptronik CEO and cofounder Jeff Cardenas met Baer while he studied at the University of Texas at Austin.<\/p>\n “Through the years, he has always supported my journey, and eventually\u00a0Apptronik’s journey, and I couldn’t be more grateful for his guidance and mentorship,” Cardenas said in a statement. “He poured his heart and soul into creating a place for entrepreneurs to build the future, and his work and legacy is going to live on forever.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Baer also co-taught the Longhorn Startup Seminar and Lab at the University of Texas at Austin, an accelerator that has helped push student startups into the real world. He served as an Entrepreneur in Residence for the Department of Computer Science.<\/p>\n Baer lived in Austin with his wife, Amy, and their three children.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Forging a path in the startup sphere<\/p>\n Baer grew up in Nashua, N.H., and started his first company, an email marketing firm called SKYLIST, from his dorm room at Carnegie Mellon University in 1996. SKYLIST was later acquired by New York Internet marketing firm Datran Media for about $10 million in 2006.<\/p>\n He moved to Austin in 1999, when he was recruited to join Trilogy Inc. as a software developer. At Trilogy, he co-founded e-commerce software maker IveBeenGood.com, which was sold to Network Commerce for $20 million in 2000.<\/p>\n Scott Francis, a fellow founder, investor and entrepreneur in Austin, remembered Baer from their first meeting while working at Trilogy.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cJosh, you could feel he was brash, confident and unapologetic about their excitement and optimism,\u201d Francis said. \u201cHe wasn\u2019t someone that necessarily took direction well, but those are the kinds of things that make for great entrepreneurs and investors. They don\u2019t follow conventional wisdom. He had the kind of personality where everybody knew who he was very quickly.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n A brash, confident leader in the Austin tech scene, he left his mark by rapidly investing his personal money in startups.<\/p>\n Capital Factory CEO Josh Baer listens to entrepreneurs at a Capital Factory event room in Downtown Austin on Oct. 26, 2018. Baer’s work at Capital Factory helped shape the Austin tech and startup ecosystem and helped launch several major companies, including Apptronik and Saronic Technologies.<\/p>\n Austin American-Statesman file photo<\/p>\n Baer’s Capital Factory was part coworking space, part venture firm and part startup lab. Its offices in the\u00a0Omni Hotel hosted coding competitions, startup meet-and-greets and events dedicated to the tech community.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n He\u00a0was one of the tech industry’s biggest cheerleaders, friend and Austin lawyer Adam\u00a0Loewy said.\u00a0<\/p>\n “I really don’t think there’s anyone who’s ever been quite like him in that regard,” Loewy said. “He just was someone who was always trying to sell the tech community. He always was very well known, and he was just very optimistic about it, always.”<\/p>\n In 2017, Baer wrote \u201cThe Texas Manifesto,\u201d a tech insider manual in which he called on Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio \u201cto connect together entrepreneurs, investors, customers, talent and press in meaningful ways.\u201d<\/p>\n Capital Factory has grown to about a hundred employees and stretched to offices across the state. In 2022, it installed its Center for Defense Innovation program in a 5,000-square-foot office at the Tech Port Center + Arena in San Antonio<\/a> to further its mission to build partnerships between the private sector and the Defense Department.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n After becoming ATC’s CEO about four years ago, Singer said the first call he got was from Baer.\u00a0He said he had big ideas for how to make the tech scene great, how to make it better and how to promote it beyond the glory it has now, Singer said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHis passion, his drive was that other people could have the advantages of a career and a life in technology that he was able to have, and he wanted everyone to know it,\u201d Singer said. \u201cHe wasn\u2019t the type who said, ‘Let\u2019s go make money’ and then disappear. He genuinely cared and it was evident.”<\/p>\n Baer was inducted into the Austin Tech Hall of Fame last year.<\/p>\n Family philanthropy and giving<\/p>\n Baer was a transplant who fell in love with Austin, its live music scene and jumping into Barton Springs pool.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n He donated money to\u00a0Austin City Limits Live before it ever moved to its current home at The Moody Theater downtown.\u00a0<\/p>\n He and his wife also donated and volunteered with the Austin Anti-Defamation League, a local chapter of the advocacy organization that seeks to fight\u00a0antisemitism and hate.<\/p>\n The couple established their own foundation, the\u00a0Baer Family Foundation, to support disadvantaged children and inclusive entrepreneurship.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAustin lost one of the people who absolutely built this tech community,\u201d Singer said. \u201cHe didn\u2019t just found companies, he shaped how an entire generation of founders here got their start. When I think about all the people he impacted? You can\u2019t even count them.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cThe whole community has a hole in their heart this morning, whether you\u2019re in tech or not,\u201d he continued. \u201cAustin has a massive hole in its heart today.\u201d<\/p>\n Josh Baer, Capital Factory founder, speaks during a ribbon cutting event for new space in the Capital Factory on the first floor of the Omni Hotel with U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett and Austin Mayor Steve Adler on May 5, 2017.\u00a0<\/p>\n Austin American-Statesman file photo<\/p>\n State and national leaders remember Baer<\/p>\n Austin leaders and community members responded to news of Baer\u2019s death on social media.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Rep. Lloyd Doggett posted a selfie with Baer and called him a \u201cgreat entrepreneur,\u201d writing that Baer was a \u201cdriving force through Capital Factory in Austin\u2019s tech story, helping make us the dynamic, international city we are today.\u201d<\/p>\n In their own tributes, Senator Ted Cruz called Baer \u201cone of the most significant figures driving innovation and entrepreneurship across America\u201d while Senator John Cornyn mourned him as an \u201cinnovative and creative leader\u201d in Austin.<\/p>\n Heidi and I are deeply saddened by the passing of Josh Baer and the tragic plane crash in Laredo.<\/p>\n Josh has been one of the most significant figures driving innovation and entrepreneurship across America. In Texas, he made our state a global leader. His impact was incalculable.\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/XwSQRjCpLu<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) June 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Deeply saddened to hear of the tragic passing of @CapitalFactory<\/a> founder and my friend, @JoshuaBaer<\/a>. Josh was an innovative & creative leader in Austin\u2019s entrepreneurial culture and a stalwart supporter of growing Central Texas\u2019 military ecosystem. I and countless others will\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/UsnpguZkXg<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) June 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n The U.S. Small Business\u00a0Administration\u2019s leader Kelly\u00a0Loeffler said she had the \u201cprivilege\u201d of visiting Capital Factory earlier this year.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Saddened to hear of the passing of Josh Baer, founder of @CapitalFactory<\/a>. I had the privilege of visiting the hub earlier this year to see Josh\u2019s vision in action – driving incredible innovation, creating thousands of local jobs, and uniting the Austin community behind a shared\u2026<\/p>\n \u2014 Kelly Loeffler (@SBA_Kelly) June 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cFor all of his prodigious talents and breathtaking knowledge, Josh was simply a marvelous human being. He was decent, generous, kind, menschlichkeit and, maybe more than anything, loving,\u201d wrote Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League.\u00a0\u201cHe was a friend who I will miss for the rest of my life. I feel lucky to have known him and his memory will inspire me forever.”<\/p>\n The world lost a genius last night. I lost a cherished friend. @JoshuaBaer<\/a> z\u201dl died in a plane crash that robbed the world of one of the most passionate, thoughtful and visionary people I\u2019ve ever known. <\/p>\n Josh was an entrepreneur who didn\u2019t just build businesses \u2014 he was as a\u2026<\/p>\n \u2014 Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) June 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Former Austin City\u00a0Council member Mackenzie Kelly also remembered Baer.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Heartbroken to hear of the passing of Joshua Baer. <\/p>\n I had the opportunity to meet Joshua early on when I authored a cryptocurrency policy while serving on the City Council, and I was always grateful for the incredible impact he had through @CapitalFactory<\/a>.<\/p>\n Joshua helped make\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/ZON3tDxXIF<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Mackenzie Kelly (@mkelly007) June 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n The University of Austin called Baer a “true friend” to the institution and praised him for his generosity.<\/p>\n Josh Baer was a true friend to UATX — generous with his time, his resources, and his belief in what we’re building. <\/p>\n Austin has lost one of its great builders, and we’ve lost a valued ally. Our thoughts are with his family and everyone at Capital Factory. pic.twitter.com\/lzhzmkUV5t<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 University of Austin (UATX) (@uaustinorg) June 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n
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